


Camp Bother David

by taylor_tut



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: David Whump, Gen, Headaches & Migraines, Protective Max, Sick Character, Sickfic, max is a good boy, sick david
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 02:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14945975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: A request from my tumblr. David gets a bad migraine and takes a day off. A curious Max makes it worse.





	Camp Bother David

David’s head was pounding so badly when he woke up that he couldn’t even force himself out of bed. He’d known that he’d gotten dehydrated yesterday, but it had been so long since he’d gotten a migraine this bad--years, in fact--that he didn’t even think of the possibility of the next-day ramifications. He reached for his phone and had to cover one eye while he typed out a message to Gwen.

 

[Text: David] 7:45

can u handle campers 2day

 

Gwen and David texted quite a bit, but she’d never known him to use shorthand. 

 

[Text: Gwen] 7:46

yeah, why? u ok?

 

[Text: David] 7:49

headache 

 

Gwen frowned and felt her anxiety spike. She’d seen David take a lot of pain, and he’d always been right back to camp afterward. She finished getting dressed faster than usual, cutting out her morning routine of spending several minutes in bed on her phone scrolling through instagram and twitter in favor of giving herself a few minutes to spare so she could check in on David. She knocked on his door and threw it open when she was greeted with a pained groan.

David was still in bed, wearing pyjamas and with his pillow over his head to block out the light. 

“Jesus, David,” she muttered, “what’s going on?” 

He moved the pillow away from his mouth but kept it covering his eyes. 

“Gwen?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she replied, “it’s me. Are you okay?”

David groaned again. “Migraine,” he replied, “s’really bad.” Her eyes widened when he spoke.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Your speech is slurring.”

He shrugged. “Happens,” he said. “M’left hand’s numb.”

She believed him, but still needed to check in order to keep her mind at ease. “Can you, like, move it?” she verified, sighing in relief as she watched him wiggle all his fingers and give her a thumbs up. 

“Okay,” she relaxed. “I can take care of the camp for today. I’ll be back to check on you at lunch, but you’ll text if you need something, right?”

David gave another thumbs up--even just moving his jaw to speak sent lightning pain through his head--so she checked her watch and cursed under her breath before rushing to the mess hall to supervise breakfast.

 

Max didn’t wonder where David was through breakfast. It wasn’t uncommon for Gwen to give the kids breakfast alone while David set up the day’s activity or vice versa. So he wasn’t expecting Gwen to announce that their lake day was cancelled. 

“David’s taking the day off,” she said, knowing that he’d want her not to worry the campers with any insinuation that he was sick, “so we’re going to do… uh… a free day.” 

Max raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, who’s taking a day off?” he asked incredulously. “David doesn’t take those. He lives for this stupid camp.”

Gwen sighed. “Everyone needs a day off once in a while,” Gwen replied simply. “So, and this goes for everyone but especially you, Max,” she announced, “don’t bother David today. Everyone just… do activities related to your camp. I’ll be here to help or answer questions or whatever.”

 

It could be argued, Max decided, that bothering David WAS Max’s camp.

So really, he WAS doing his own camp activities by sneaking off to David’s tent and throwing open the door. David was still in his bed, and Max could have sworn that he heard him curse when he rolled over at the sound of the door hitting the wall behind it, but he had to be wrong about that part, because it was David. David didn’t curse. 

“Yo, David,” Max called, “Gwen says you’re slacking today.”

David’s face was buried in his pillow and he groaned. 

“Please go away,” David requested quietly. It threw Max off enough that he hesitated and almost obeyed.

Max rolled his eyes and stepped onto the bed. If David needed a day off, fine, but there was no way that David was gonna just lie in bed all day. 

“You’ve been lazy all day,” Max said, “it’s time to get up.” 

David recoiled violently into the mattress. “I’ll be back t’camp t’morrow.”

Max frowned. He’d never heard David speak so quietly, and it sounded like he was clenching his teeth. It freaked him out a little. 

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Max asked. 

David picked his head up from the pillow, covering one eye with his hand, and all but ignored Max in favor of shoving past him to get to the bathroom and lock the door behind him. Max cringed at the sound of immediate retching. 

“David?” Max called through the door when he heard David flush the toilet and turn on the water. “Do you… want me to get Gwen?” 

After a minute, David opened the bathroom door looking paler and more miserable than before. 

“No,” he replied quietly, “s’fine.” 

Max found himself walking beside David nervously as he staggered to the bed and flopped back down face first. David’s phone was on the nightstand, and Max took it--thank fuck David didn’t have a lock code--and typed up a text to Gwen.

 

[Text: David] 12:16

It’s Max. I think David’s dying. Come help.

 

[Text: Gwen] 12:16

damn it max! i told you to leave him alone

 

[Text: Gwen] 12:17

wait what do you mean he’s dying

 

[Text: David] 12:18 

just come here

 

Gwen was already on her way to David’s tent, where she opened the door quietly to find Max hovering anxiously beside David’s bed. She sighed--David didn’t look any worse than he had earlier. 

“Gwen,” Max greeted, much louder than David could handle. He moaned in pain, and Gwen shushed Max.

“Max, you have to be quiet,” she whispered. “David has a bad migraine. Light and sound are only going to make it worse.”

Max flinched. “Light and--shit, I made it worse by--is that why he threw up when I was talking to him?”

Gwen frowned. “He did?” she asked, turning her attention to David and pressing her hand to the back of his neck since his face was still covered. No heat, but that was only marginally relieving. “I should go get him a sports drink or something,” she murmured. Max nodded. 

“I’ll stay here and make sure he doesn’t die.”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “No, you won’t,” she instructed. “You’re going to leave him alone. You’ve done enough to David today.”

Max looked genuinely guilty, but apparently David was still at least somewhat conscious, because he objected. 

“He didn’t mean it,” he said through a tight jaw. 

Gwen softened. “I know,” she caved. “But I told him to stay out of here, and he came in to bother you anyway.”

Max kicked his feet aimlessly at the ground.

“I’m sorry,” he said as though it physically pained him to utter the words. “I didn’t know.”

David reached out a hand blindly until it found the top of Max’s head and he patted it twice. 

“S’okay,” he said. “Can both of you leave?”

It hurt Gwen’s heart to know that David was in no less pain than earlier, so she led Max out without another word. 

“Today, your camp is ‘take care of David’ camp,” she instructed as he followed her to the mess hall. “You’re going to bring him water, painkillers, caffeine, and anything else he wants. Silently,” she said. “It’s your punishment for not listening to me.”

Max nodded, holding his arms out as she loaded them up with an extra blanket and an airplane sleep mask. 

“To be fair, I did listen,” Max amended. “I intentionally did the opposite.”

Gwen glared at him and he frowned defeatedly. As Max trotted off to bring the supplies to David, Gwen called after him. 

“Max,” she called, stopping him at the door of the mess hall, “David knows you didn’t mean to make it worse. And you did the right thing by texting me. So don’t beat yourself up too much, okay?”

Damn psychology associate degree. Even if it was a useless degree, she was good at telling what he was thinking.

“Yeah, yeah,” Max dismissed, trying to act like he didn’t care whether David blamed him or not for it, but secretly feeling a bit of guilt lift from his shoulders. All he knew was that he couldn’t wait to get back to his normal camp activities. 


End file.
